How Over-Compliance Limits Humanitarian Work on Syria Challenges of Fund Transfer for Non-Profit Organizations Working on Syria
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Invisible Sanctions: How over-compliance limits humanitarian work on Syria Challenges of Fund Transfer for Non-Profit Organizations Working on Syria 1 Invisible Sanctions: How over-compliance limits humanitarian work on Syria Challenges of Fund Transfer for Non-Profit Organizations Working on Syria Principal Researcher: Dr. Joseph Daher Review and editing: Dr. Erica Moret IMPACT - Civil Society Research and Development e.V. Principal Researcher: Dr. Joseph Daher Review and editing: Dr. Erica Moret Graphic Design: Tammam Al-Omar Published by: IMPACT - Civil Society Research and Development e.V Keithstraße 10 , 10787 Berlin Not for Sale. IMPACT e.V - ©2020 All rights reserved, no part of this publication can be printed, reissued or used in any shape or form without the publisher’s prior written consent. The views and opinions expressed in this report are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of IMPACT e.V . Despite going to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information contained in this report, IMPACT e.V cannot guarantee their total impartiality. Table of Contents Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive summary and Main Findings of the Research ............................................................................ 3 Added value to the literature ................................................................................................................... 4 Recommendations ................................................................................................................................... 6 Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 8 Introduction: .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Effects of COVID 19 on Syria ......................................................................................................... 11 The Issue of Financial restrictions and “de-risking” ................................................................................. 14 Brief History of Sanctions Against Syria .................................................................................................. 17 Licencing Frameworks in Syria sanctions ............................................................................................ 19 Hawala system ....................................................................................................................................... 20 Hawala System .................................................................................................................................. 23 What future for NGOs in Syria? .............................................................................................................. 22 History of the Syria Cross-border Aid ................................................................................................. 23 The Financial Circuit and Challenges of Humanitarian Assistance to Syria ............................................... 25 1) Challenging Legal and Financial Regulations ................................................................................. 27 France ............................................................................................................................................... 28 United Kingdom ................................................................................................................................ 28 Germany ........................................................................................................................................... 29 Lebanon ............................................................................................................................................ 29 Turkey ............................................................................................................................................... 30 2) Collecting Funds on Online Crowdfunding Platform ........................................................................... 32 3) Transactions, Between Delays and Blockings...................................................................................... 33 4) Regional (Europe) and International Transfers ..................................................................................... 33 5) Transfers from Neighbouring Countries to Syria .................................................................................. 35 a) Kurdistan Iraq ................................................................................................................................ 36 b) Turkey to Syria ............................................................................................................................... 37 c) Lebanon to Syria ............................................................................................................................ 38 6) Limitations of the Hawala System ....................................................................................................... 39 7) Money Transfer Agencies ................................................................................................................... 42 8) Transfer to INGOS and NGOs operating within Syria, in government-controlled areas ......................... 43 Syrian Banking System:.................................................................................................................. 44 9) Transfer to UN agencies within Syria................................................................................................... 45 10) Effects of Sanctions .......................................................................................................................... 47 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 49 About the Research Team ...................................................................................................................... 50 Acknowledgements I would like to thank for their help and assistan- ce throughout the process of this research the team of IMPACT, and more especially Hozan Ibra- him and Jelnar Ahmad, and Jade Kahhaleh from the network WE EXIST. I also thank Dr. Erica Moret for her significant contributions to the research and recommenda- tions, as well as editing this paper. And Dr. Zaki Mehchy for the final review and providing va- luable input to the research I finally also want to show my appreciation for the organization “Syrian Development and Re- lief Collective” (CODSSY) to have made available its report “Jusqu’à quand sera t’il défendu d’ai- der les civils syriens”. This research was largely supported by We Exist Network, in outreach and coordination. 2 IMPACT - Civil Society Research and Development www.impact-csrd.org Executive summary and Main Findings of the Research NGOs working on Syria and/ or operating within the country have been confronted with rising obstacles since 2014 in their dealings with banks and financial institutions at different levels. This has been ongoing until the current time. Any mention of Syria is a red flag for banks and final institutions. The report follows the different phases of process involved in payment mechanisms and financial operations faced by NGOs and INGOs, from opening the bank account, passing through transfer operations, to the consequences of these problems. The research provides a global analysis of the financial operations and challenges faced by NGOs (Syrian and non-Syrian), INGOs and state and EU agencies starting from European countries to those neighboring Syria (Turkey, Lebanon and Kurdistan Iraq) as well as Syria itself. Alongside these challenges in the financial circuit, the report analyses key problems encountered by humanitarian organizations posed by the various sanctions regimes in place and particularly those imposed by the US and their extraterritorial nature. The research notes that NGOs and INGOs working on and / or operating in Syria have faced ever-increasing difficulties and some have had to cancel projects because they could not keep up with the paperwork required by donors. Unfortunately, despite various global initiatives and conference that have taken place in recent years between various actors (NGOs and INGOs, states officials, and banking employees) to improve and facilitate the financial operations and transfers of NGOs working on or in Syria, there has been no significant progress made to date; frequently quite the opposite. While larger NGOs and INGOs can sustain some of the difficulties encountered in the obstacles and challenges posed by delays and blocking of financial operations (often because of the larger flows of money involved and larger compliance teams), more modest and smaller entities have suffered more. This said, this situation has not lessened the transfer of risks to the Syrian NGOs operating in the field in Syria or in neighbouring countries; quite on the opposite. As such, smaller humanitarian organizations are disproportionally affected by bank de-risking processes. In conclusion, better provision of guidance and support by sanctions-enforcing